Shikha Jain, Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Director of Oncology Communications and Digital Innovation at University of Illinois Cancer Center and Founder of Women in Medicine, shared on LinkedIn:
“What a meaningful evening at the University Club of Chicago celebrating my colleague Dr. Paul Rubinsteins investiture as the Stewart D. Fordham, Professor in Lymphoma at the University of Illinois College of Medicine , The University of Illinois Cancer Center.
Paul’s specialty is caring for people living with HIV and cancer, a population that has historically been left out of clinical trials for new cancer therapies. As a member of the NCI-funded AIDS Malignancy Consortium and the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium, he has helped generate the evidence that changed how these patients are treated. In the early years of the epidemic, survival for HIV-associated lymphoma was measured in months. Today it is comparable to survival in patients without HIV, because researchers like Paul put patients on trials and proved that full-dose, modern therapy works. That work continues with CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies for patients with HIV. In his words: ‘No one should be excluded from any clinical trial.’
His impact also extends beyond UIC. He volunteers at Chicago’s county hospital, where he runs a clinic dedicated to patients with HIV and cancer.
And his work has made international news. Paul led the team caring for the ‘Chicago Patient’ a man living with HIV who developed acute myeloid leukemia and received a stem cell transplant at UIC from a donor carrying a rare mutation that confers natural resistance to HIV. He is now in sustained remission off HIV medication, making him only the third person in the United States to achieve a likely cure of HIV this way. His case was also the first to show that remission is still possible even after the virus initially returns post-transplant.
Endowed professorships are among the highest honors an academic institution can bestow. They recognize sustained excellence and make a long-term investment in the research, the mentorship, and above all the patients. Thank you to the Fordham family for this generous gift and for believing in the future of lymphoma care at UIC.
Congratulations, Paul. So proud to call you a colleague and a friend.”
Other articles from Shikha Jain on OncoDaily.
